Punishment for the man who desecrated 15 Jewish graves in Auckland’s oldest cemetery, with swastikas and crude anti-Israeli graffiti, is to be 320 hours community service, nine months supervision and $3000 reparation. Read more

The ABC’s Elizabeth Jackson recently interviewed co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices’ Antony Loewenstein about the Ben Zygier case. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has lodged an official complaint to the ABC about its content. Read more

There is madness in the air. Israel faces extraordinary challenges whilst virtually all our leaders uninhibitedly continue their intrigues and machinations in pursuit of power. They regard their responsibility to the national interest as a distant mirage uttering occasional hypocritical rhetoric. Read more

Based on a perusal of reviews for Cloud Atlas, one might be convinced that the sprawling, ambitious, epic adaptation of David Mitchell’s 2004 novel is either a masterpiece or an unmitigated disaster. Read more

The Australasian Union of Jewish Students is providing an opportunity for university students and the Jewish youth of the community to participate in a special survey during Orientation Week (O-week) and the first few weeks of university this semester. Read more

Ari Briggs – International Director of Regavim, an Israeli Non-Government Organization, and JNF Shaliach Ygal Shapir have shared a platform at Sydney’s The Central Synagogue discussing good and bad news coming out of the Negev. Read more

Former Sydneysider Ari Briggs now lives in Ra’anana and is Director of International Relations with Regavim…a Jerusalem-based organisation which contests in court claims made the Bedouin over ownership of State and privately-owned land in the Negev. Watch the video Face to Face interview ahead of his public meetings in Sydney and Melbourne. Read more

There are two Israeli films among the nominees for the 2013 Academy Award for best Documentary; Dror Moreh’s “The Gatekeepers” and Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s “5 Broken Cameras” (My review of “5 Broken Cameras” can be found here). This is yet another achievement for the Israeli film industry, which keeps on punching above its weight and produces world-acclaimed films, often acknowledged in film festivals around the globe. Read more

Arab attempts to undermine and trash the Bush Roadmap and end any hopes of a negotiated peace between Israel and the PLO were flagged with some remarkable comments made by James Zogby in his article published this week headlined “Putting the Blame on “Palestine’s Democratic Deficit”. Read more

Question:
I find Purim to be a very noisy festival. During the Megillah reading, when the name of Haman is mentioned, children (and adults) make a tremendous racket with their graggers and other noise making instruments. I find this very distracting. Wouldn’t a quiet celebration be more respectful? Read more

As intriguing as the Ben Zygier case undoubtedly is, there is perhaps an additional, unstated reason it has attracted the level of media frenzy we have seen over the last two weeks. The entire incident raises searing questions about the ethics and responsibilities of journalists. Read more

Andrew Braunsberg, is a close friend and former business partner of iconic movie director Roman Polanski. Their intimate filmed conversation originally intended to be private, during Polanski’s house arrest in Zurich are the subject of a new film “Roman Polanski – a Film Memoir”. Read more

Films can be tremendous vehicles for escapism – paths to freeing oneself from worldly concerns and considerations. They can also be a means of getting in touch with essential elements of humanity such as love, sacrifice, and mortality. Read more

Beautiful Creatures is the latest attempt by a Hollywood studio to cash in on the popularity of a YA (Young Adult) series. In this case, instead of vampires and werewolves, it’s witches and warlocks. Read more

Twelve leading Melbourne Jewish organisations will come together to support the annual Walk Against Family Violence and send a clear message that the Victorian Jewish community stands united in saying ‘No’ to family violence. Read more

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), together with the William Cooper Legacy Project invite friends and allies to join with us in Walking Together, as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the William Cooper march on the German Consulate which took place in Melbourne on the 6th December 1938. Read more